Camera

ABSTRACT

To provide a camera that can perform a removal operation for particles adherent to a surface upon which light is incident, of a pickup device and a transmitting member disposed on an optical path of the pickup device in such a condition that the particles are properly removed. According to the present invention, a camera comprises a driving mechanism section to drop and remove particles on a cleaning target that is a surface of an image pickup device and/or a surface of a low-pass filter provided closer to a side of a subject in an optical path than the image pickup device, the subject light passing through the low-pass filter, which is provided with: a tilt sensor to detect an orientation of the camera; and a control section to judge whether a removal operation for the particles by the driving mechanism section should be carried out or not in accordance with the detected value from the tilt sensor.

The disclosure of the following priority application is hereinincorporated by references: Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-001394filed on Jan. 9, 2007, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-325636filed on Dec. 18, 2007.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a camera for shooting a subject.

2. Description of the Related Art

There has been proposed and implemented in various ways a technique forremoving particles adherent to a surface of an image pickup device of adigital camera and a surface of a transmitting member such as a low-passfilter placed in the optical path of the image pickup device (forexample, see Japanese Patent No. 3,727,903).

The camera of the Japanese Patent No. 3,727,903 has a cleaning functionwhereby an-optical element (transmitting member) placed on an imagepickup device is resonated by a vibration exciting means to shake offparticles adherent to the optical element and remove them.

The camera having such a cleaning function, however, performs a removaloperation for the particles regardless of the orientation of the camera.For this reason, in some cases the particles may not be effectivelyremoved depending on the orientation of the camera.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide a camera that can perform aremoval operation for particles adherent to a surface upon which lightis incident, of a pickup device or a transmitting member disposed in anoptical path of the pickup device in such a condition that the particlesare properly removed.

The present invention achieves the above-mentioned object by thefollowing solution.

According to the present invention, a camera having a cleaning sectionto drop and remove particles on a cleaning target that is a surface ofan image pickup device and/or a surface of a transmitting memberprovided closer to a side of a subject in an optical path than the imagepickup device, the subject light passing through the transmittingmember, comprising: a detecting section to detect an orientation of thecamera; and a judgment section to judge whether a removal operation forthe particles by the cleaning section should be realized or not inaccordance with a detected value from the detecting section.

In the camera according to the present invention, the judgment sectionmay judge that the removal operation for the particles by the cleaningsection should not be realized when the cleaning target is orientedvertically upwards.

In the camera according to the present invention, the camera may furthercomprise: an ejecting section to eject the particles dropped by thecleaning section and/or an particle holding section to collect and holdthe particles, and the judgment section may judge that the removaloperation for the particles by the cleaning section should not berealized when the ejecting section and/or the particle holding sectionare/is not situated in a direction in which the particles are dropped bythe cleaning section.

In the camera according to the present invention, the camera may furthercomprise a mirror section upon which light from the subject is incidentand which reflects the light to the cleaning target and a rotarymechanism section to rotate the mirror section, and when the judgmentsection judges that the removal operation for the particles should berealized, the judgment section may cause the rotary mechanism section torotate the mirror section and be adapted to ensure a path through whichthe particles between the cleaning target and the ejecting section aredropped.

In the camera according to the present invention, the cleaning targetmay be disposed to orient vertically upwards when the camera is in anormal position.

In the camera according to the present invention, the cleaning sectionmay be provided with a vibrating member to vibrate the cleaning target.

The camera according to the present invention may comprises a controlsection to control the vibrating member to generate a standing waveselected from among a plurality of standing waves to the cleaning targetin the order of selecting.

In the camera according to the present invention, the control sectionmay control the vibrating member to generate a first standing wave inthe cleaning target, and then to generate a second standing wave inwhich a portion corresponding to a node appearing in the first standingwave is vibrated.

In the camera according to the present invention, the control sectionmay control the vibrating member to sequentially generate standing wavesin decreasing order of amplitude in a portion in which particles of thecleaning target are present.

In the camera according to the present invention, the control sectionmay be arranged to enable a selection of at least one of: a firstcontrol to control the vibrating member to generate a first standingwave in the cleaning target, and thereafter to generate a secondstanding wave by which a portion corresponding to a node appearing inthe first standing wave is vibrated; a second control to control thevibrating member to sequentially generate standing waves in decreasingorder of amplitude in a portion in which particles of the cleaningtarget are present.

In the camera according to the present invention, the vibrating membermay be at least one pair of vibrating members arranged across a cleaningtarget area of the cleaning target, and the control section may performthe control for the vibrating members if the detecting section detectsan orientation in which the pair of vibrating members take theirrespective upper and lower positions in a vertical direction.

In the camera according to the present invention, the vibrating membermay be at least one pair of vibrating members arranged across a cleaningtarget area of the cleaning target, and the control section may performthe control for the vibrating members if the detecting section detectsan orientation in which the pair of vibrating members take theirrespective left and right positions in a vertical direction.

In the camera according to the present invention, two pairs of vibratingmembers may be provided as the vibrating member, and if the detectingsection detects an orientation having a relation in which one pair ofvibrating members serve as their respective upper and lower parts in avertical direction and the other pair of vibrating members serve astheir respective left and right parts in a vertical direction, thecontrol section may be arranged to enable to select either the one pairof vibrating members or the other pair of vibrating members.

In the camera according to the present invention, the control sectionmay select any of the first control and the second control in accordancewith the detection result in the detecting section.

According to the present invention, it is possible to carry out aremoval operation for particles adherent to a surface of an image pickupdevice or a transmitting member disposed on an optical path of thedevice upon which light is incident, in such a condition that theparticles are properly removed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A shows a general configuration of a camera of a first embodimentin its normal position;

FIG. 1B is a block diagram of a camera control.

FIG. 2A is an illustration for explaining a removal operation forparticles when the amount of tilt of a camera about the Y-axis is −225degrees;

FIG. 2B is an illustration for explaining a removal operation forparticles when the amount of tilt of a camera 10 about the Y-axis is +45degrees;

FIG. 3 is an operational flow of a control section when removingparticles from an image pickup unit section of a camera, according to afirst embodiment;

FIG. 4A is an illustration showing a camera when its orientation is atzero degrees with respect to a normal position;

FIG. 4B is an illustration showing a camera when its orientation isbeyond a range of −230 degrees;

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration showing a camera of a secondembodiment;

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration showing a camera of a thirdembodiment;

FIG. 7 is an operational flow of a control section when removingparticles from an image pickup unit section of a camera, according to athird embodiment;

FIG. 8 is an illustration showing a state of occurrence of a standingwave on a low-pass filter;

FIG. 9 is an illustration showing attached positions of vibratingmembers on a low-pass filter;

FIG. 10 is an operational flow of a control section when removingparticles from an image pickup unit section of a camera, according to amodified form of the third embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT First Embodiment

Now, a more detailed description will be given with reference to thedrawings and so on, by way of embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration showing a camera of a firstembodiment according to the present invention, of which FIG. 1A shows ageneral configuration of the camera in a normal position thereof, andFIG. 1B shows a block diagram of a camera control.

For clarity of the explanation, it should be noted that the left side ofFIG. 1A is the front portion of the camera, the right side thereof isthe rear portion of the same, the upper side thereof is the upperportion of the same, the lower side thereof is the lower portion of thesame, the front side thereof with respect to the paper surface of FIG.1A is the left portion of the same, and the back side thereof withrespect to the paper surface of FIG. 1A is the right portion of thesame. In addition, the frontward and backward direction is theX-direction, the upper and lower direction is the Y-direction and theleft and right direction is the Z-direction (see FIG. 1A). Moreover, itis assumed that the normal position of a camera corresponds to anorientation of a camera in which the optical axis of the lens section ofthe camera is horizontal and the longitudinal direction of a shot imageis horizontal.

A camera 10 comprises a control section 11, an image display section 12,an operational section 13, a tilt sensor 14, a lens section 20, a mirrorunit section 30, a finder section 40, a shutter section 50 and an imagepickup unit section 60, as shown in FIG. 1A, which is a digitalsingle-lens reflex camera having a cleaning mode which removes particles70 adherent to a surface (cleaning target portion) of the image pickupunit section 60.

The control section 11 is provided inside the camera 10 as shown inFIGS. 1A and 1B, and is a CPU for overall control of every part of thecamera 10. The control section 11 (judgment section) is also adapted tojudge based on a detected value of the tilt sensor 14 whether or not aremoval operation should be carried out for the particles 70 on theimage pickup unit section 60 described later.

The image display section 12 is provided on a rear portion of the camera10, which is a liquid crystal display for displaying an image of asubject, information associated with operations, an image of a subjectthat has been picked up, or the like. Besides, there are displayed aexecution state of the removal operation for the particles 70 judgedbased on the detected value of the tilt sensor 14 by the control section11, and an indication of whether the removal operation should be curriedout or not.

The operational section 13 is provided on an upper portion of the camera10, which comprises a release switch 13-1 executing shooting of asubject image displayed on the image display section 12 or the findersection 40, and an operational button 13-2 provided on a rear portion ofthe camera 10 for carrying out setting of the camera 10 and selection ofa cleaning mode.

The tilt sensor 14 is provided inside the camera 10, and is a sensor fordetecting tilt of the camera 10 from a normal position thereof about theY-axis.

An attachment section 15 has an opening portion provided to a frontportion of the camera 10 for enabling the lens section 20 to be attachedthereto. The attachment section 15 (ejecting section) is also used toeject the particles 70 adherent to the image pickup unit section 60 withthe lens section 20 being detached therefrom.

The lens section 20 is detachably affixed on the camera 10 via theattachment section 15, and is a lens unit having a function in whichlight Al from the subject is incident upon the lens, and scales thesubject image up or down in accordance with a purpose of shooting tooutput it to the mirror unit section 30.

The mirror unit section 30 is provided at a position upon which thelight Al output from a rear portion of the lens section 20 is incident,and is a mirror mechanism for causing the light A1 to be incident uponthe finder section 40 or the image pickup unit section 60 appropriately.

The mirror unit section 30 has a reflective mirror section 31 and arotary mechanism section 32.

The reflective mirror section 31 is a mirror for reflecting the light A1to the finder section 40 or the image pickup unit section 60.

The rotary mechanism section 32 is provided at both sides of thereflective mirror section 31 in the right-and-left (Y) direction, and isconstituted by a rotary mechanism for rotating the reflective mirrorsection 31 about the Y-axis and a rotary motor for driving the rotarymechanism. The rotary mechanism section 32 rotates the reflective mirrorsection 31 at a specific angle of rotation so as to enable a reflectingdirection of the light Al to turn toward the finder section 40 or towardthe image pickup unit section 60. In the present embodiment, therotation is made from a situation of inclination of 45 degrees to asituation of inclination of 135 degrees with respect to the light A1(arrow B). It should be noted that the light A1 incident on thereflective mirror section 31 becomes light A2 as it is reflected to thefinder section 40, and becomes light A3 as it is reflected to the imagepickup unit section 60.

Additionally, when the particles 70 adherent to a surface of the imagepickup unit section 60 are ejected from the camera 10, the rotarymechanism section 32 causes the reflective mirror section 31 to beinclined at 135 degrees with respect to the light A1 so as to secure anejecting path of the particles 70 from a surface of the image pickupunit section 60 to an opening of the attachment section 15.

The finder section 40 has a Penta Dach Prism 40-1 and an eyepiecesection 40-2.

The Penta Dach Prism 40-1 is placed in a position upon which the lightA2 reflected when the reflective mirror section 31 is inclined at 45degrees is incident, which is a polygonal prism for outputting theincident light A2 to the eyepiece section 40-2.

The eye piece section 40-2 is an ocular optical system placed in aposition upon which the light A2 output from the Penta Dach Prism 40-1is incident.

The shutter section 50 is placed in a position upon which the light A3reflected when the reflective mirror section 31 is inclined at 135degrees is incident, and regulates incidence of the incident light A3upon the image pickup unit section 60 in accordance with an operation ofthe release switch 13-1. The shutter section 50 is also situated on afront surface side of the image pickup unit section 60, described later,and so the shutter section 50 is made to be opened to form an ejectingpath for the particles when performing a removal operation of theparticles adherent to the image pickup unit section 60.

The image pickup unit section 60 is provided to a position upon whichthe light A3 passing through the shutter section 50 is incident, whichcomprises a low-pass filter 61, a coupling member 62, an image pickupdevice 63 and a driving mechanism section 64. It is noted that theparticles 70 adherent to the surface of the image pickup unit section60, as described above, are actually adherent to a surface (cleaningtarget portion) of the low-pass filter 61.

The low-pass filter (transmitting member) 61 is an optical filter foreliminating a high-frequency component of the light from the subject toprevent occurrence of interference fringes (Moire) of the subject image.

The coupling member 62 is a packing made from rubber for tightly closingbetween the coupled low-pass filter 61 and the image pickup device 63,and the tight closure is intended to protect an image pickup surface ofthe image pickup device 63.

The image pickup device 63 is a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device), which isexposed to the light A3 incident thereon through the low-pass filter 61and converts it into an electrical image signal to output the signal tothe image display section 12.

The driving mechanism section-64 is provided with a driving mechanismand a piezoelectric device, which is a mechanism for vibrating the imagepickup unit section 60 in a direction perpendicular to the light A3 (ina plane of the image pickup surface) so as to vibrate the particles 70adherent to a surface of the low-pass filter 61 upon which the light A3is incident for their removal.

It should be noted that the tilt sensor 14 detects the amount of tilt ofthe camera 10 about the Y-axis with respect to a normal position of thecamera 10, the control section 11 judges in dependence on the detectedvalue whether or not to carry out a removal operation for the particles70, and the driving mechanism section 64 operates based on thisjudgment. FIG. 2A is an illustration for explaining a removal operationfor particles when the amount of tilt of the camera 10 about the Y-axisis −225 degrees. FIG. 2B is an illustration for explaining a removaloperation for particles when the amount of tilt of the camera 10 aboutthe Y-axis is +50 degrees. In the present embodiment, the controlsection 11 judges that the removal operation for the particles 70 shouldnot be carried out when the orientation of the camera 10 has aninclination with the amount of tilt about the Y-axis being within arange between −225 degrees and +45 degrees with respect to a normalposition of the camera 10, as shown in FIG. 2.

This is because the particles 70 can not be made to fall from a surfaceof the image pickup unit section 60 to an opening of the attachmentsection 15 due to a positional relations of the image pickup unitsection 60 and the attachment section 15 when the camera 10 keeps itsorientation within a range between −225 degrees and +45 degrees from itsnormal position. In addition, particularly when the inclined orientationis kept within a range between −45 degrees and +45 degrees, an entrancesurface (image pickup surface) of the image pickup unit section 60 forthe light A3 is oriented substantially upward (in a +Z direction), sothat the particles 70 lying on the entrance surface mostly do not falland cannot be sufficiently removed from the image pickup unit section 60even if the driving mechanism section 64 operates.

The particles 70 are dust contaminating from the outside of the camera10 and/or dust generated by sliding sections within the camera 10.

Now, an explanation will be given concerning operations of the camera10. FIG. 3 is an operational flow of the control section 11 whenremoving the particles 70 from the image pickup unit section 60 of thecamera 10. FIG. 4 is an explanatory illustration at the time of removingthe particles 70 from the image pickup unit section 60 of the camera 10.

When performing the cleaning for the image pickup unit 60 of the camera10 as shown in FIG. 3 (S200), a photographer begins by detaching thelens section 20 from the attachment section 15 of the camera 10 (anarrow C in FIG. 4A) as shown in FIG. 4A, and then selects a cleaningmode using the operational button 13-2 (S201). Upon the selection of thecleaning mode, the control section 11 causes the rotary mechanismsection 32 to rotate the reflective mirror section 31 in inclination at135 degrees with the light A1 (S202, an arrow B in FIG. 4A), and opensthe shutter section 50 (S203). The control section 11, next, operates todisplay the orientation change instruction on the image display section12 for the photographer to incline the orientation of the camera 10 atany angle outside of the range between −225 degrees and +45 degrees(from +45 degrees to +135 degrees) with respect to the normal position(S204). After displaying the orientation change instruction, the controlsection 11 causes the tilt sensor 14 to detect the amount of tilt of thecamera 10 from the normal position (S205), and judges whether theremoval operation for particles should be realized or not based on thedetected value of the tilt sensor 14 (S206).

If the orientation of the camera 10 is within a range between −225degrees and +45 degrees with respect to the normal position as shown inFIGS. 2A and 2B, then the control section 11 judges that the removaloperation should not be realized (S206: NO), and stays on standby untilthe orientation of the camera 10 is appropriately changed by thephotographer.

FIG. 4A is an illustration showing an occasion on which the orientationof the camera 10 is at zero degrees with respect to the normal position,and FIG. 4B is an illustration showing an occasion on which theorientation of the camera 10 is outside of the range (for example, at−230 degrees).

If the orientation of the camera 10 is outside of a range between −225degrees and +45 degrees with respect to the normal position (forexample, at −230 degrees, in FIG. 4B), then the control section 11judges that the removal operation for the particles 70 should be carriedout (S206: YES), and causes the driving mechanism section 64 to bedriven to vibrate the image pickup unit section 60 (S207, an arrow D inFIG. 4B). By vibrating the image pickup unit section 60, the particles70 adherent to a surface of the low-pass filter 61 fall and are ejectedto an outside of the camera 10 through the opened shutter section 50 andthe attachment section 15 (an arrow E in FIG. 4B). After a specifiedtime elapses, the vibration of the image pickup unit section 60 isstopped, the image display section 12 is caused to display an indicationthat the cleaning has been completed, and the cleaning mode is ended(S208).

In the foregoing context, the camera of the present embodiment hasadvantages as follows.

(1) Since the camera 10 is provided with the tilt sensor 14 fordetecting the orientation of the camera and the control section 11 forjudging whether or not the removal operation for the particles 70 usingthe driving mechanism section 64 of the image pickup unit section 60should be carried out, the removal operation for the particles 70 withthe driving mechanism section 64 can be prohibited when it is judgedthat the particles 70 cannot be removed based on the orientation of thecamera 10, thereby avoiding a situation where the particles cannot beeffectively removed, to make it possible to surely remove the particlesfrom a surface of the low-pass filter 61.

(2) Since the control section 11 judges that the removal operation forthe particles 70 using the driving mechanism section 64 should not berealized when the orientation of the camera 10 corresponds to aninclination of an amount of tilt within a range between −225 degrees and+45 degrees about the Y-axis with respect to the normal position, theparticles 70 shaken by the driving mechanism section 64 can be passedthrough the shutter section 50 and the attachment section 15 to besurely ejected from the camera 10.

(3) Since camera 10 is provided with a reflective mirror section 31 onwhich the light from the subject is incident and which reflects it tothe image pickup unit section 60 and a rotary mechanism section 32 forrotating the reflective mirror section 31, the control section 11 cancause the rotary mechanism section 32 to rotate the reflective mirrorsection 31 to ensure a path for the particles 70 between a surface ofthe image pickup unit section 60 and an opening of the attachmentsection 15 to fall when judging that the removal operation for theparticles 70 should be realized.

(Modification)

Various modifications and variations can be made without limitation ofthe embodiment described above.

(1) In the present embodiment, the control section 11 judges that theremoval operation for the particles 70 of the image pickup unit section60 using the driving mechanism section 64 should not be realized whenthe camera 10 has an orientation within a range between −225 degrees and+45 degrees from the normal position, but other angle ranges may be set.For example, the surface of the low-pass filter 61 to which theparticles 70 would adhere may be more smoothened to facilitate theremoval of the particles 70 even if the angle at which the image pickupunit section 60 is inclined is made smaller. More specifically, althoughthe present embodiment is intended to judge that the removal operationfor the particles 70 should be realized in the case where theorientation of the camera 10 is at more than +45 degrees, it may be setto realize the removal operation at more than +30 degrees by virtue of asmoothing treatment of the surface of the low-pass filter 61.

(2) Although the present embodiment is intended to cause the drivingmechanism section 64 to integrally vibrate the low-pass filter 61 andthe image pickup device 63, only the low-pass filter 61 may be vibrated.

(3) In the present embodiment, the driving mechanism section 64integrally vibrates the low-pass filter 61 and the image pickup device63 so as to perform the removal operation for the particles 70, but itmay be concurrently used as a driving section of a vibration reductionmechanism for correcting blurring caused by hand or the like at the timeof image shooting of the camera 10.

(4) In the present embodiment, the surface of the low-pass filter 61 isused as a cleaning target, but any surfaces of other transmittingmembers such as a protective filter and the like may be used as thetarget.

Second Embodiment

FIG. 5 is an illustration showing the overall construction of a cameraof the second embodiment of the present invention in a normal positionof the camera. Components similar to those in the first embodiment areomitted from the description in the second embodiment. In the secondembodiment, a particle holding section 71′ is provided for collectingthe particles and holding them. Particles 70′ removed from the imagepickup unit section 60′ are not ejected from an attachment section 15′of a lens section 20′. The particle holding section 71′ is disposed in aspace where the image pickup unit section 60′ is placed on an inner sideof a shutter section 50′.

A rotary mechanism section 32′ has a construction similar to that in thefirst embodiment, but there is no need to eject the particles 70′adhering to the surface of the image pickup section 60′ from the camera10′ and thereby its rotation for ensuring the ejecting path does nottake place.

In addition, as described above, the particle holding section 71′ isdisposed in a space where the image pickup unit section 60′ is situated.For this reason, the shutter section 50′ does not open on the occasionof the removal operation for the particles adhering to the image pickupunit section 60′. The shutter section 50′, however, may be opened, forexample in the case where the particle holding section 71′ is detachedto the outside of the camera 10′ in order to clean the particle holdingsection 71′.

This construction is the same as in the first embodiment in that a tiltsensor 14′ detects the amount of tilt of the camera 10′ about the Y-axiswith respect to the normal position of the camera 10′, a control section11′ judges whether or not to carry out the removal operation for theparticles 70′ in accordance with the detected value, and the drivingmechanism section 64 operates in dependence upon this judgment. However,the particles fall to a tray in the case where the orientation of thecamera 10′ has an amount of tilt of a range from no less than zerodegree to substantially 90 degrees about the Y-axis with respect to thenormal position. Therefore, in the case of other ranges than it, thecontrol section 11′ judges that the removal operation for the particles70′ should not be carried out.

According to the camera of the second embodiment, the particles can becollected in the particle holding section 71′ in addition to theadvantages of the camera of the first embodiment.

Third Embodiment

FIG. 6 is an illustration showing a general construction of a camera 110of the third embodiment of the present invention in a normal position ofthe camera. Components similar to those in the first embodiment areomitted from the description in the third embodiment. A differencebetween the third embodiment and the first embodiment is that an imagepickup unit section 160 is disposed at a rear portion of the camera 110.

In addition, the construction of the image pickup unit section 160 isdifferent. As shown in FIG. 6, the image pickup unit section 160 isconstructed such that an image pickup device 163, a coupling member 162and a low-pass filter 161 are arranged in this order from the imageside. Further on the subject side of the low-pass filter 161, a pair ofvibrating members 164 is disposed as a driving mechanism section. Thevibrating members 164 are piezoelectric devices, which are bonded alongan edge extending in an up-and-down direction of the low-pass filter 161in the vicinity of upper and lower ends of the subject side surface ofthe low-pass filter 161.

The vibrating members 164 are each electrically connected with a controlsection 111 by a flexible printed board 165. The vibrating members 164vibrate by being driven by a driving signal having a predeterminedfrequency, output from the control section 111. If the vibration istransferred to the low-pass filter 161, then the low-pass filter 161itself vibrates for the particles adhering to the front side surface ofthe filter to be shaken down.

The control section 111 is provided inside the camera 110 as with thefirst embodiment, and is a CPU for generally controlling every part ofthe camera 110. The control section 111 can control the vibratingmembers 164 selectively between a first control mode and a secondcontrol mode. The first control mode is a mode for controlling thevibrating members 164 to generate a first standing wave in the low-passfilter 161, subsequently to generate a second standing wave in which aportion corresponding to a node appearing in the first standing wave isvibrated, and then to generate a third standing wave in which a portioncorresponding to a node appearing in the second standing wave isvibrated. The second control mode is a mode for controlling thevibrating members 164 to sequentially generate standing waves indecreasing order of amplitude to a portion of the low-pass filter 161where the particles are present. Selection of either a first vibrationmode or a second vibration mode can be performed by an operationalbutton 113 on a rear face of the camera 110.

A tilt sensor 114 detects tilt of the camera 110 about the X-axis fromthe normal position in the third embodiment. In addition, a particleholding section 171 is disposed below the image pickup unit section 160(in a Z-minus direction).

Now, the operation of the camera 110 will be explained. FIG. 7 is anoperational flow of the control section 111 when the particles 170 areremoved from the image pickup unit section 160 of the camera 110. Whenthe photographer wants to realize the cleaning for the image pickup unitsection 160 of the camera 110 into operation (S300), he/she begins byselecting a cleaning mode using the operational button 113 (S301).

Next, the control section 111 receives a detection result of theorientation of the camera 110 from the tilt sensor 114 (S302). Thecontrol section 111 judges based on the detection result of theorientation, whether or not the camera 110 has such an orientation thatthe pair of vibrating members 164 have their respective upper and lowerpositions in a vertical direction in the image pickup unit section 160(S303). If it is judged that the camera does not have such anorientation that the pair of vibrating members 164 take their respectiveupper and lower positions in a vertical direction (S303, NO), then aninstruction to change the orientation of the camera 110 is given (S304).This instruction is realized in the image display section 112. On theother hand, if the control section 111 judges based on the detectionresult of the orientation that the camera 110 has such a orientationthat the pair of vibrating members 164 take their respective upper andlower positions in a vertical direction in the image pickup unit section160 (S303, YES), then the control section 111 inquires which controlshould be selected, the first control mode or the second control mode(S305).

If the first control mode is selected, then the vibrating members 164are controlled to generate the first standing wave in the low-passfilter 161 and thereafter to generate the second standing wave in whicha portion corresponding to a node appearing in the first standing waveis vibrated (S306).

FIG. 8 is an illustration showing the state of occurrence of thestanding waves in the image pickup unit section 160 (low-pass filter161), wherein specifically shown are the state of occurrence of thefirst standing wave in the low-pass filter 161, the state of occurrenceof the second standing wave in the low-pass filter 161, and the state ofoccurrence of the third standing wave in the low-pass filter 161. Itshould be noted that any standing waves caused in the image pickup unitsection 160 are longitudinal waves in practice, but the illustration ismade with lateral waves for the sake of ease of understanding.

If the image pickup unit section 160 is vibrated with the generation ofstanding waves, then the particles on the low-pass filter 161 fallbecause of the vibration. However, node portion “a” (a position in thesame horizontal direction as “a” shown by oblique strokes in theright-hand figure) may easily collect particles. In this case, thoseparticles do not readily fall down even if a standing wave having thesame frequency continues to be applied. For this reason, the secondstanding wave is subsequently generated on the low-pass filter 161 suchthat a portion corresponding to a node appearing in the first standingwave is vibrated, as shown in the middle figure. By doing so, theportion “a” of the node, in which the particles have been collected, isvibrated, thereby the particles of the portion “a” gradually fall.

Again, in this case, however, particles may be collected at a nodeportion “b” of the second standing wave (a position in the samehorizontal direction as “b” shown by oblique strokes in the middlefigure). Also in this case, the dust does not readily fall even withcontinuous application of a standing wave of the same frequency. Forthis reason, next such a third vibration is added that the thirdstanding wave is caused to vibrate a portion “b” corresponding to a nodeappearing in the second standing wave. By so doing, the portion “b” ofthe node in which the particles have collected is vibrated, and so theparticles at the portion “b” fall.

Also in this situation, again the particles may be collected in a nodeportion “c” of the third standing wave (a position in the samehorizontal direction shown by oblique strokes in the left-hand figure),but then the first standing wave is added again. By repeating theseprocedures, the particles will fall by way of the portion “a”, theportion “b”, the portion “c”, the portion “d”, . . . , one afteranother. In this way, the particles are dropped ultimately to the lowestposition “m” of the low-pass filter 161.

For example, after the first standing wave, the second standing wave andthe third standing wave are repeated and each occurs three times, thevibration of the image pickup unit section 60 is stopped, an indicationthat the cleaning has been completed is displayed on the image displaysection 12, and the cleaning mode is ended (S308).

If the second control mode is selected, then a portion on which theparticles are present on the low-pass filter 161 is identified, and theportion on which the particles as objects to be removed are present issubjected to occurrence of a standing wave having the greatest amplitudeof the standing waves that can be generated by the control section 111.Then, a standing wave having the second greatest amplitude issubsequently generated, and from then on the standing waves aregenerated with different amplitudes sequentially. For example, thestanding waves having large, middle, small amplitudes are generated.After these standing waves are repeatedly generated, for example threetimes, the vibration of the low-pass filter 161 is stopped, theindication that the cleaning has been completed is displayed on theimage display section 112, and the cleaning mode is over (S308).

In the way of the foregoing, the camera of the third embodiment hasadvantages as follows.

(1) In the first control mode, the control section 111 controls thevibrating members 164 to generate the first standing wave in thelow-pass filter 161, thereafter to generate the second standing wave inwhich a portion corresponding to a node appearing in the first standingwave is vibrated, and then to generate the third standing wave in whicha portion corresponding to a node appearing in the second standing waveis vibrated. In this way, the particles on a surface of the low-passfilter 161 can be dropped to the bottom without being collected in thenode portion “a” of the specified standing wave.

(2) In the second control mode, the control section 11 identifies aportion on which the particles are present on the low-pass filter 161using an already-known method, for example, and controls the vibratingmembers 164 to sequentially add a plurality of selected standing wavesto the portion on which the particles as objects to be removed arepresent in decreasing order of amplitude. By adding a standing wavehaving the largest (larger) amplitude first, the adhesiveness of theparticles is weakened, and thereby after that, the particles can bedropped even with a standing wave having smaller amplitude.

(Modification)

Various modifications and variations can be made without limitation ofthe above-described embodiments.

(1) The third embodiment is intended to generate the standing waves inthe order of a first standing wave, a second sanding wave and a thirdstanding wave, but the invention is not limited this manner, and forinstance, generation may be made in the order of the second standingwave, the first standing wave, the third standing wave after the firststanding wave, the second standing wave and the third standing wave aregenerated, for example. In addition, the control section 11 maycalculate the order in which the particles on the portion “a” shown inFIG. 8 fall down the fastest, and the vibration may be generated in thecalculated order.

(2) Although the third embodiment is intended to mount a set ofvibrating members 164 on the upper and lower portions of the low-passfilter 161, the invention is not limited to this manner. As shown inFIG. 9, one pair of vibrating members 164-1 may be bonded along theupper and lower edges of the subject side surface of the low-pass filter161, and the other pair of vibrating members 164-2 are bonded along theleft and right edges of the subject side surface of the low-pass filter161. In this situation, if the detecting section 114 detects the camera110 being in an orientation having a relation in which the one pair ofthe vibrating members 164-1 take their respective upper and lowerpositions in a vertical direction and the other pair of the vibratingmembers 164-2 take their respective left and right positions in avertical direction, then the control section 111 may enable to selecteither the one pair of vibration members 164-1 or the other pair ofvibrating members 164-2.

(3) In the third embodiment, the first mode may be selected when adetected orientation has a relation in which the one set of vibratingmembers 164 take their respective upper and lower positions in avertical direction, and the second control mode may be selected when adetected orientation has a relation in which the one set of vibratingmembers 164 take their respective left and right positions in a verticaldirection. In this way, it is possible to start to smoothly andefficiently drop the dust adhering thereto that has a great coefficientof static friction.

FIG. 10 is an operational flow of the control section 11 in this case.The photographer at first selects a cleaning mode using the operationalbutton 113 (S401), as with the third embodiment. The control section 111receives the detection result of a orientation of the camera 110 fromthe tilt sensor 114 (S402). The control section 111 judges based on thedetection result of the orientation whether the camera 110 has anorientation in which the pair of vibrating members 164 occupy theirrespective upper and lower locations in a vertical direction in theimage pickup section 160 (S403). If NO in the step S403, then thecontrol section 111 subsequently judges whether the pair of vibratingmembers 164 occupy their respective left and right locations in avertical direction in the image pickup unit section 160 (S404). If NO inthe step S404, the control section 111 instructs an orientation changefor the camera 110 (S405). On the other hand, if YES in the step S403,the first control mode is selected, and after the cleaning has beenperformed in the first mode, the cleaning is ended (S408). If YES in thestep S404, the second control mode is selected, and after the cleaninghas been performed in the second mode, the cleaning is ended (S408).

1. A camera having a cleaning section to drop and remove particles on acleaning target that is a surface of an image pickup device and/or asurface of a transmitting member provided closer to a side of a subjectin an optical path than the image pickup device, the subject lightpassing through the transmitting member, comprising: a detecting sectionto detect an orientation of the camera; and a judgment section to judgewhether a removal operation for the particles by the cleaning sectionshould be realized or not in accordance with a detected value from thedetecting section.
 2. The camera according to claim 1, wherein: thejudgment section judges that the removal operation for the particles bythe cleaning section should not be realized when the cleaning target isoriented vertically upwards.
 3. The camera according to claim 1, furthercomprising: an ejecting section to eject the particles dropped by thecleaning section and/or an particle holding section to collect and holdthe particles, and the judgment section judges that the removaloperation for the particles by the cleaning section should not berealized when the ejecting section and/or the particle holding sectionare/is not situated in a direction in which the particles are dropped bythe cleaning section.
 4. The camera according to claim 3, furthercomprising: a mirror section upon which light from the subject isincident and which reflects the light to the cleaning target and arotary mechanism section to rotate the mirror section, and when thejudgment section judges that the removal operation for the particlesshould be realized, the judgment section causes the rotary mechanismsection to rotate the mirror section and is adapted to ensure a paththrough which the particles between the cleaning target and the ejectingsection are dropped.
 5. The camera according to claim 1, wherein: thecleaning target is disposed to be oriented vertically upwards when thecamera is in a normal position.
 6. The camera according to claim 1,wherein: the cleaning section is provided with a vibrating member tovibrate the cleaning target.
 7. The camera according to claim 6,comprising: a control section to control the vibrating member togenerate a standing wave selected from among a plurality of standingwaves in the cleaning target in a selected sequence.
 8. The cameraaccording to claim 7, wherein: the control section controls thevibrating member to generate a first standing wave in the cleaningtarget, and then to generate a second standing wave in which a portioncorresponding to a node appearing in the first standing wave isvibrated.
 9. The camera according to claim 7, wherein: the controlsection controls the vibrating member to sequentially generate standingwaves in decreasing order of amplitude in a portion in which particlesof the cleaning target are present.
 10. The camera according to claim 7,wherein: the control section can select at least one of: a first controlto control the vibrating member to generate a first standing wave in thecleaning target, and thereafter to generate a second standing wave bywhich a portion corresponding to a node appearing in the first standingwave is vibrated; a second control to control the vibrating member tosequentially generate standing waves in decreasing order of amplitude ina portion in which particles of the cleaning target are present.
 11. Thecamera according to claim 7, wherein: the vibrating member is at leastone pair of vibrating members arranged across a cleaning target area ofthe cleaning target, and the control section performs the control forthe vibrating members if the detecting section detects an orientation inwhich the pair of vibrating members take their respective upper andlower positions in a vertical direction.
 12. The camera according toclaim 7, wherein: the vibrating member is at least one pair of vibratingmembers arranged across a cleaning target area of the cleaning target,and the control section performs the control for the vibrating membersif the detecting section detects an orientation in which the pair ofvibrating members take their respective left and right positions in avertical direction.
 13. The camera according to claim 7, wherein: twopairs of vibrating members are provided as the vibrating member, and ifthe detecting section detects an orientation having a relation in whichone pair of vibrating members serve as their respective upper and lowerparts in a vertical direction and the other pair of vibrating membersserve as their respective left and right parts in a vertical direction,the control section can select either the one pair of vibrating membersor the other pair of vibrating members.
 14. The camera according toclaim 10, wherein: the control section selects any of the first controland the second control in accordance with the detection result in thedetecting section.